News Bulletin

MAY 06 2014

A blunt depiction of the dark state of education in Pakistan

Enrolment of students in 1,500 seminaries in the country is on the rise while Balochistan leads all other provinces in their growth. A new book titled “Education: Problems and Solutions” by Dr Jaffar Ahmed, the director of Karachi University’s Pakistan Studies Centre, gives a blunt picture of the state of education in the country, 67 years after its creation. Ahmed, through various essays compiled in the book, talks about class disparity, lack of research at universities and the utter negligence of the state when it comes to education. Citing the Economic Survey of Pakistan, he states that the number of students enrolled in seminaries across the country increased from nine percent in 2010 to 21 percent in 2012. The popularity of these seminaries which provide free food, education and shelter, and then in turn produce children with a narrow world view, points towards the glaring needs of the poor and unemployed population which make up the majority of the country’s youth.

The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will hold an advocacy walk on Tuesday (today) in connection with Global Action Week (GAW) on Education for All (EFA).The GAW on Education for All (EFA) is an annual awareness-raising campaign which has been initiated by Global Campaign for Education (GCE). UNESCO Islamabad office has been observing GAW every year. According to UNESCO here on Monday, this year, the global theme for campaign is “Education and Disability” complemented by slogan “Equal Right, Equal Opportunity.” The purpose of GAW events this year is to highlight the profound challenges faced by persons with disabilities in realizing their right to education.

Following the provision of a credit facility of PKR 966m by GuarantCo Ltd to Mobilink, the Mobilink Foundation has been awarded a grant of USD 281,000 by GuarantCo to extend the outreach of its GSMA Award winning SMS-based Literacy Programme. Mobilink Foundation is the only private sector owned NGO from Pakistan to have received a grant for its CSR initiative. The program provides education over cell phones to learners not served by traditional education channels and is implemented in association with UNESCO and other reputable international partners. Mobilink Foundations SMS-based Literacy Program has empowered 6,000 learners in its initial stage. The GuarantCo grant will enable the program to benefit an additional 2,500 learners in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) taking the total number of beneficiaries to more than 8,500.

The government is fully aware of the importance of education to root out illiteracy, poverty and unemployment from the society and a phenomenal shift in the approach of NGOs to focus on education is highly commendable, said Rana Sana Ullah Khan, Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Local Bodies, Government of Punjab. He was addressing a seminar organised jointly by FCCI and Saylani Welfare International Trust on 'Empower Youth as IT Entrepreneurs for Progressive Pakistan' here on Monday at FCCI. He said PML-N focused on education during his first tenure by creating an endowment fund to provide subsistence to the needy and talented students belonging to the poor strata of the society. He said the endowment fund started with Rs 5 million had now jumped to Rs 12 billion and from this endowment fund approx 60,000 students were getting best possible education in the renowned universities of the country. He also mentioned the Danish School Project and said it was meant for the children with limited financial resources.

At a distance of about 32 kilometres in the north-west of the Chakwal city lies the Thaneel Kamal village nestled snugly at the midst of a vast green tract covered with blossoming trees of Phulahi and the blooming fields of wheat with a stream of fresh water passing by. There are as many as 18 other villages around Thaneel Kamal. For years development projects have hardly been initiated in this area because of the neglect by politicians and officials. As a result, the whole area remains the most backward in the Chakwal district. A few years back, higher education was a dream for female students of the area as there was no college for them. The students were forced to remain confined to the four walls of their homes after matriculation. But now the situation has changed, at least in terms of women education.

The Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) has called a meeting of its Board of Directors to decide the fate of its protesting employees, The Nation has learnt. According to sources, the BoD meeting is called on today (Tuesday) in a wake of strike of the employees which continued on third working day on Monday against the irregularities in the organisation. The sources said that the BoD may fire those who are ‘defaming’ the organisation. Warning of disciplinary action, the PEF management has twice issued notices to the protesting employees terming unlawful the protest.

A schoolboy ended his life by shooting himself in the temple at his house in Shahdara, police said Monday. The family told the police that Shahab Sultan committed suicide after being admonished by his father over lack of interest in education. Sultan was a student of 8th class at a local school, investigators said. After being snubbed by his father, the boy went to his bedroom, and shot himself in the temple with his father’s pistol. The youngest of three died on the spot. Police visited the crime scene and handed over the body to the family without autopsy after fulfilling legal formalities.

Over 200 daily wage teachers of different model colleges on Monday staged a sit-in in front of the National Press Club (NPC) against the delay in regularisation of their services and non-payment of salaries. The protesters, which included a large number of female teachers, remained outside the press club from 9am till 6pm. Before dispersing in the evening they announced that they would continue their protest on Tuesday as well. Tariq Ismael, a daily wage teacher, told Dawn that despite assurances by the former government a large number of teachers had not been regularised. “I am working on a meagre salary of Rs9,000 in the hope that one day I will be regularised and will benefit from the facilities extended to a permanent teacher,” he said.“In May 2013, daily wage teachers filed a case in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) which is still pending,” Mr Ismael said.

Intermediate exams were recently organized for ten inmates held for murder at the Adiala jail. This should spark a much delayed debate in Pakistan about the balance the country’s prison system needs to strike between punishment and reform. It must be kept in view throughout this discussion, that a majority of prisoners are returnees. Why is this the case? Why, after undergoing the horrors of jail time in Pakistan, do criminals continue to remain criminals after release? There are a number of issues. Once convicted, there is little incentive for inmates to study or reform their lives. Because of employment restrictions, most will return to their old ways to make money. Criminal networks are strong and persuasive, and without other options available, it is easy to fall back to crime.